I've been pretty busy the last couple weeks, between helping out on A Christmas Carol and Christmas shopping (and of course work in there too!). So I've missed the last couple weeks - but, with Monday being Christmas, lets keep it thematic and talk about this mannequin challenge video I shot for CCCT last year: It was a fun idea that was trending at the time, both in and out of theatre groups (the Alley did a pretty awesome one!), and the director, Kathleen Richardson and her cast decided they could pull one off, so we gave it a try.
If you hadn't guessed it yet, I shot this on my Ronin-M with the A7s attached (autofocus was our friend on this one). So we got everyone together one night and planned it out - I was going to come in through the front door. We staged some people in the lobby, box office and concessions. I'd move through the lobby, onto and across the stage - do a loop through the crossover in the back, come back out a door (to reveal a different "scene" as everyone moved quickly while I was behind the set) and land on Nick who would then break and wish everyone Happy Holidays - seemed pretty simple. On the first take I made the discovery that the crosspiece for the Ronin-M is a little too wide sometimes. The stabilizer fit through just fine - I fit through just fine, but I was hitting the handles (and my knuckles) on the bricks and 2X4's on either side of the crossover. So we busted that take, and I reconfigured, taking half the crosspiece off and using one handle and the top girp to control the rig. Did a second pass, but when I got around the corner people were still moving a little bit. On the third take however, it was just about perfect (except I needed to smooth out the moment backstage where the rig grazed the top of the girl's head - oops!) Overall it was a fun challenge for all of us - for the cast and crew to hold still that long, and for me to make the shot work as smoothly as possible. Only 2 things I would have liked to change: I wish I'd held the shot a the top a beat longer. and I wish I'd shot it with a wider, faster lens. I do have a wider, faster lens - the Tokina 11-16 for my canon - but on the Sony it wouldn't autofocus (its a little slow to focus anyway) and while on a shot that wide, the autofocus wouldn't have been an issue for most of it - I wouldn't have been able to make that final shot work as well if I had to stop with it so far away that Nick was in focus. All in all a fun little project. That's it for this week (and this year?) As always, thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @tomameek And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays (and a Happy New Year if I don't get another post out next week!) -Thomas |
AuthorThomas Meek is an independent filmmaker living and working in Houston, TX Archives
March 2021
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